Draco opened the door and they all went in. It was a large stone room, big enough to house six or seven boys, although Harry and Draco were its only occupants. It had two fireplaces, one at each end of the room, a large bay window with a stone seat, and two beds hung with velvet hangings. Harry's trunk rested at the foot of his bed; Draco's at the foot of his.

Lupin sat down in a chair, while Harry and Draco each sat on the ends of their respective beds. Lupin, Harry thought, was looking oddly uneasy, although he smiled at Harry when he caught Harry glancing at him.

"It's good to see you again, Harry," he said with a smile. "I don't know if I told you that."

"I've been looking forward to having your class all week," said Harry, smiling back at Lupin. "We've only had class so far with Professor Emble, and he just says the same thing over and over again."

"'There are three words every Magid must take to heart,'" said Draco, quoting Professor Emble. "'Control, control, control.'" He grinned at Lupin. "I told him that was one word three times, but he didn't care."

"Control is important," said Lupin gently.

"Yeah, I know," replied Draco, looking unrepentant. "But I'm already good at that, so…"

"Which reminds me," said Lupin. "Draco, Professor Dumbledore wrote me to say that you were in possession of Salazar Slytherin's sword. He asked me if I would take a look at it. "

Draco shrugged. "If you like." He frowned. "But your hands-"

"The sword burns non-Magid humans," said Lupin calmly. "Being a werewolf, I should be able to touch it."

"Oh, yeah, the werewolf thing," said Draco, with candid interest.

"That must really suck."

"DRACO!" said Harry in a warning tone.

But Lupin, surprisingly, was smiling as he looked at Draco. "You remind me so much of Sirius when he was young," he said. "It's really uncanny."